Back On Track
by bunnikkila
Summary: It was a little unsettling to see Krei of all people look anything but sure of himself. (Post-movie; takes place after Fair and Good As New and might make more sense if you've read the second - but it's not necessary.)


Alistair Krei had been a smoothly self-assured man for as long as Abigail had known him. It was almost unsettling to see him look so _un_sure.

He hadn't seen her yet; he was waiting at a table, drink untouched, fidgeting with his blazer cuffs as he often had when annoyed or nervous or just vaguely uncomfortable. Abigail hoped it was at least a little of the first - that was familiar, and could be teased to amusement if she pushed the right buttons, and a little normalcy would do them both a lot of good.

She stepped forward, raising a hand to wave.

"Krei!"

He was up immediately as she approached, moving to help her into a chair. She waved him off; not even Baymax was allowed to help her until she actually reached out for it and Krei could damn well learn to wait for that signal too no matter how remorseful or unsettled or whatever he was. He hovered nearby a moment, at a loss, before finally returning to his seat as she settled in.

Something was going to have to be done about this.

"Abigail." He cleared his throat, fingers drumming lightly against the table. "It's... good to see you. I... well..."

"Likewise." She studied him a moment; he was trying to stop his fidgeting with moderate success. "Seriously. It's why I invited you. That, and to make a decision."

"A decision?" He looked up at her. "On...?"

"On where to set up my new dinette set. What on earth do you think, Alistair?"

He gave her a flat look and she grinned in the face of his annoyance. The sarcasm and the use of his first name (an old man's name, he always said, insisting that even friends - such as they were - used his surname; Abigail was the only one who ever flouted that) had done their work as they always had.

An annoyed Krei - especially under her needling - was better than any uncharacteristic moping. If she rattled him enough, maybe he'd finally relax.

"Anyway. I want a job. _My_ job."

He frowned slightly, voice hesitant.

"At... Krei Tech?"

"No, at Showbiz Pizza." She almost giggled at his scowl. "_Yes_ at Krei Tech. I know it's been awhile since I was on the payroll, and honestly I only decided a few minutes ago. I just.. took awhile to figure out for sure if I wanted it and for what reasons." She shrugged. "See I was... worried it might just be to spite my dad. Thing is though - I_liked _working there. And, you know - it's not that I don't appreciate your help with hospital bills and whatnot, but a lady does like to feel useful."

"Well, yes." He hesitated again. "Are you sure that's... well, a good idea? After everything..."

"I'm always sure, Krei. Don't worry - I'm not... not going to be like him."

"That's not... I didn't mean..."

"I know, I know." She waved him off. "But it's not an issue. For one thing I don't bother hiding my face if I feel like throwing a fit."

"No. No, you do not." There was a hint of amusement under his dry tone; she sat up a bit straighter, encouraged, then stifled a sigh as his voice grew meek again. "Abigail. I really am sorry..."

She frowned.

"So you've said, so I've accepted. And look, no one expected anything to be one-hundred-percent safe. That's kind of the whole point of having test pilots."

"I could have stopped it."

"Sure you could have. And Krei? I would have been _livid_."

He glanced at her again.

"Livid."

"Mm-hm." She nodded slowly. "Absolutely, entirely, that-time-you-dragged-me-to-a-shareholder-meeting-without-warning furious. I've seen the videos, we tested and tested and it was in parameters, which I'm sure you've repeatedly told everyone who didn't actually zip off into a portal."

"Well, ah - yes..."

"Mm-hm. Anyway - one, I probably would've killed you if you kicked me off the ride after getting me all worked up for it. Don't you know that?" She waited for his nod and then leaned forward, dropping her voice. "Two, I'm not as narrow-minded as my dad. I'd have to get busy hating half your engineers and technicians and whoever else worked on it, whoever approved and solicited the project in the first place, and a good chunk of the Army and that would just be _exhausting_. Not to mention time consuming." She caught the barest trace of a smile around his eyes and smirked; so far so good. "I mean - you have _any idea_ how much paperwork would be involved in traipsing off to screech at some starched-and-shined officers, let alone chuck them into dimensional portals?" She leaned back in her chair. "_I_ don't, but I bet it's a nightmare."

He was staring at her, mouth pressed tight in the way he had when he wanted to laugh but felt he shouldn't. She gave him permission with a quick, conspiratorial grin and was gratified to hear him give in; tense and nervous as his brief chuckle was, it was still a victory.

"Well, all right." He took a deep breath. "You've got me there, Abigail. So. A job. You want to go back to test piloting?" A pause, and his voice grew tentative again. "I'm afraid I don't have anything as exciting as explosive teleportation right now..."

"Eh." Abigail waved a hand, shrugging. "That was so boring I slept through it. You've got something _better_ going on." She leaned forward again. "Hiro Hamada and his friends told me. And you can't fund and aid them without me - I'm their official testing assistant as of yesterday."

He blinked, leaning forward as well, voice lowered.

"For their...?"

"Mm-hm." She nodded once, sharply. "After all, I beat Hiro in three out of five races, fair and square."

"Oh." A brief, bewildered frown crossed his face before he set the question aside, nodding. "Well, that's... fair enough I suppose. We'd better discuss specifics elsewhere, though."

"Good call." She tilted her head slightly. "So - I'm in?"

"Of course you are." He hesitated a moment and then smiled. "Anyone who can sleep through a portal explosion clearly has the steel nerve we need. We'll discuss salary as well; probably a bit more than your old one all things considered, but I have a fund set up as it is..."

"Oh really? Nice to know you can still always find an issue to throw money at."

It was a bit too far; he didn't flinch exactly, but she could see tension returning, his face and shoulders tightening as he tugged at his sleeves again. No good - she'd meant to tease, not sting.

"Hey." She rested her hands on the table, gentling her voice. "Sorry."

"No." He took another deep breath and let it out in a long, slow sigh. "No, that's... entirely fair, Abigail. It's... well, it's an accusation I'm used to, especially since... what happened... and it's not really untrue." A slight shrug. "And I really did get the idea it solved everything at some point - after all it's been a long time since I was up half the night worrying about rent or bills or..." He trailed off with another shrug. "Still. Some things..."

She watched him fidget a moment, torn between comfort and toughness before deciding to go with what had always worked.

"Yeah well. Something you better figure out quick. I may have decided not to be mad about Sparrow but playing the martyr doesn't suit you." She paused as he glanced up at her. "I mean - what are the investors gonna think?"

He almost smiled; she rested her chin in one hand, brows raising as he spoke.

"Nice to know you're still willing to take a light touch with me."

"Krei. Alistair. Come on. I never put up with your self-aggrandizing bullshit, why would you think I'd put up with your self-pitying bullshit?"

He pressed his mouth tight again but this time laughed without any prompting, still brief but lighter and looser.

"Thanks _ever_ so much for clearing that up."

"You know me. Always keeping you in your place."

"Hm. You're lucky you're sometimes actually funny, Miss Callaghan."

He was smiling again, ever so slightly, and she grinned back.

"Oooh. My contract is going to state that you actually admitted that. I want it on record, Krei."

"Right, of course. 'Let it be known that the employed's attempts to annoy the employer are sometimes a little bit amusing'."

"Attempts? I am the _best_ at annoying you. I suspect you like it." She rested a chin in her hand again. "So what's my actual title gonna be? 'Hero testing' might raise some questions."

"I have other piloting projects - mainly developing and testing a more efficient maintenance shuttle for the wind turbines. You'd like playing dodgeball with those things, I'd guess? And... well, you're used to working with Baymax now, right?"

"Yes, and yes." The idea of testing manueverability around the turbines was an appealing one; a good challenge for her, and for machines that would need to weave through the machines dotting the skyline. "What about Baymax?"

"You probably already know that Fred funded Baymax's rebuild, but Hiro and his aunt agreed to let me fund the further development and eventual production of a full line. Conditional to the Hamada family supervising, of course."

"You mean you're gonna make a whole lot of Baymaxes." Abigail blinked, wondering why this hadn't occured to her.

"Well. We're calling them TH Units. Hiro's name for them - according to him, there's only one Baymax."

"Can't argue that," Abigail said slowly. Krei nodded silent agreement, gaze thoughtful, and she smiled a little. "TH, huh... for...?"

"Yes." A pause. "The exhibition hall and medical research and development lab for the rebuilt Krei Tech campus too. But they don't know that yet."

"They'll love it." She grinned at him. "Not replacing the Abigail Callaghan Hall I hope."

"Of course not. That's Aeronautics."

"Good." She laughed and nodded once, then blinked and peered at him. "Wait, you're serious?" He merely looked back at her, expression unchanging, and she sat back a bit. "You _are_ serious. Still, though?"

"Well." He took a sip of water, eying her over the glass. "It would have cost too much to replace the sign."

She stared at him a moment longer. Then she leaned over the table to punch his shoulder.

"Nice to know you're still incorrigible, Alistair."

He laughed, more relaxed and more genuine this time.

"Makes two of us then, doesn't it?"

"As long as you have no illusions." She raised her glass, grinning as he returned the gesture. "I don't even wanna know how you've been getting along without someone to rattle your chain - so here's to getting back on track."

"Back on track." He paused. "Thank you, Abigail."

"We'll see how thankful you are after having to put up with me every day again."

He nodded slowly at that, trying for seriousness, and she laughed.

Back on track was a good way to put it; between Krei, Hiro, and his team, she was starting to feel like her life was coming back together.


End file.
